Her Name Was Moviola – A documentary about film editing… the way it used to be done!

HER

A film written by Walter Murch

produced, directed and edited
by Howard Berry

Film editing...
the way it used to be done

Almost every film made in Hollywood from the mid-1920’s until the mid 1990’s — the seven-decade-long simmering summer of the studio system, encompassing the arrival of sound, Technicolor, 3-D, Cinemascope and Smell-O-Rama — was edited on a Moviola.

Join acclaimed film editor WALTER MURCH (nine Academy Award nominations and three wins, ACE Career Achievement award), and esteemed film director MIKE LEIGH (seven Academy Award nominations, Cannes Palme d'Or winner, BAFTA Film Academy Fellowship) in a unique new documentary project which tells the story of Moviola editing.

Moviola editing as you will see was highly external — every aspect of the process was a broad physical gesture in space and time. A bin is physically a bin, a splice is physically a splice, and you have to physically rewind using muscle power to get from the end of a reel back to the beginning, and so on.

NAME

WAS

MOVIOLA

cast & crew

Walter Murch is one of the most famous names in film and sound editing. He has worked as film and sound editor on many acclaimed films including American Graffiti (1973), The Godfather: Part II (1974), The Conversation (1974), Julia (1976), Apocalypse Now (1979), for which he won an Oscar, The English Patient (1996), which won him a double Oscar in both film and sound editing, The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Cold Mountain (2003). Murch also directed Return to Oz (1985) at Elstree Studios and helped work on the restoration of Orson Welles’s classic Touch of Evil (1998).

Howard Berry has been Head of Post-Production at the University of Hertfordshire’s School of Creative Arts since 2007, where he has taught digital film editing to well over 1000 students. A recipient of both the University’s Tutor of the Year and Inspirational Lecturer of the Year awards, Howard was also a finalist at the 2021 Broadcast Tech Innovation Awards for the remote post-production editing workflow he co-designed with EditShare. He has worked as a VFX editor on numerous films including Scott Pilgrim vs The World, Green Zone, Sherlock Holmes and Kick-Ass, and relished the opportunity to use a Steenbeck while assisting VFX on The Dark Knight and Hellboy II.

Dan Farrell is an editor and previously assistant editor for over forty years. Dan worked in the cutting room with Walter on Return to Oz, The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Cold Mountain and most recently on the documentary Coup 53 (2019). Dan has also worked with Kenneth Branagh on Hamlet (1996) and as an assistant editor on Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun (1987). Dan is once more re-teaming with Walter as his assistant editor for our film.

Mike Leigh is a highly acclaimed English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. His most notable works include the black comedy-drama Naked (1993), for which he won the Best Director Award at Cannes, the Oscar-nominated, BAFTA- and Palme d’Or-winning drama Secrets & Lies (1996), the Golden Lion-winning working-class drama Vera Drake (2004), and the Palme d’Or-nominated biopic Mr. Turner (2014). His most recent film Peterloo was released in 2018.

Walter Murch

Writer, as himself

Howard Berry

Producer, Director, Editor

Dan Farrell

as himself

Mike Leigh

as himself

testimonials

Not just a wonderful experimentation, but also a necessary chapter in film history that shows the craft, the patience, and the thought process behind filmmaking. Watching Murch editing at the Moviola is simply movie magic.

- Robert Daniels (RogerEbert.com)

Howard Berry, does a modern production miracle, without interference, we get an intimate exposure of the complete process. In fascinating technical detail we watch as Murch and his old assistant re-find the muscle memory and the joys of editing on their beloved machine.

- Christopher Schiller (Scriptmag.com)

It's a wonderful display of how one detail builds on another across a process that in itself is a work of skill and beauty, leading to a finished work of art. It's like watching a magician weave his spell. Anyone who has even the remotest connection to film-making should see this film.

- Walter Donohue - film historian, senior editor Faber&Faber

Never before has the crucial importance of the assistant editor been shown, including the close collaboration with the editor.

- Matthew Robbins (director *batteries not Included)

A wondrous cinematic time capsule — capturing film editor Walter Murch as he demonstrates equipment and skills that have all but been lost to time. It reminded me why I first fell in love with editing.

- Lee Unkrich A.C.E., editor of Toy Story

An essential film for lovers of cinema... Her Name Was Moviola is a heartfelt guided tour through the tactile and physical nature of how films were cut for decades before computers took over. I loved it.

- Eddie Hamilton A.C.E. B.F.E., editor of Mission: Impossible Fallout, Top Gun: Maverick

Her Name Was Moviola: Coda — The Mr Turner Cut

After Walter’s review with Mike Leigh, we returned to Elstree and Walter made some final editing changes based on the notes he was given; before we closed down our Moviola cutting room.

Presented here, for educational purposes, is the final version of Walter’s cut in full, recorded from the screen of the Steenbeck.

Major Production Corporate Sponsors

a film by TheCURATORS!
Starring WALTER MURCH, DAN FARRELL, with HOWARD BERRY and featuring MIKE LEIGH
written by WALTER MURCH from his original idea
cinematography by GEORGE NICHOLLS co-producer RICHARD CRASKE
edited by HOWARD BERRY sound by MIKE WYELD produced and directed by HOWARD BERRY.

cast & crew

Walter Murch

Howard Berry

Dan Farrell

Mike Leigh

recent news

Peter Bradshaw reviews HNWM for The Guardian

Sheffield DocFest gives HNWM its world premiere!

Walter interviewed by Art of the Cut

Oliver Peters interviews Walter about HNWM

testimonials

Her Name Was Moviola: Coda — The Mr Turner Cut